mr. sensitive

from the beginning, i have suspected that ezra suffered a cow's milk protein allergy like gabe. ezra had some digestive issues (diarrhea, vomiting, mucous in his stool) that started almost immediately after we brought him home. the pediatrician took me off of dairy when i took ezra to him at four or five days old.

but i doubted that it was possible to have two such sensitive children. i figured the odds of having two children in a row with a milk protein allergy were pretty slim. so, i stuck with the "no dairy" rule for a bit and soon after bringing him home from the hospital a second time, i reintroduced the dairy into my diet to see what would happen.

one week later, i had my answer. having gone through this before, i knew that ezra's new subtle symptoms (bloody stool and the beginnings of slight eczema) were, in fact, further proof that i have a second dairy allergic child. the pediatrician agreed.

thus, i am again a dairy-free woman. not just the obvious things like milk and cheese, though. no, i am dairy-free in the way that includes ingredients like caseinate that are hidden in ordinary, non-dairy foods like bread. i am that woman scouring the ingredients on the back of all of the boxes in the grocery store making certain that i am not consuming food that bothers my sensitive son.

but it is worth it, i guess. i am happy to sacrifice my favorite food group for the health of my children (and my wallet... formula is expensive!). and hopefully this time around we have caught it soon enough to ward off some of the more difficult things that we experienced with gabe.